Decision makers

Secretary Clinton: Support Saudi Women Fighting for the Right to Drive

Saudi Arabia is the only nation in the world that bans women from driving and a brave group of Saudi women have organized a campaign, Women2Drive, to overturn the archaic and unfair rule. One activist, Manal Al Sharif, is being held in jail for posting a video of herself driving on YouTube and other activists have been arrested and harassed. The women plan to take the wheel en masse on June 17th in defiance of the ban and the crack down on their activism.

Women2Drive activists say the ban subjects women to sexual harassment by taxi drivers and forces them to be dependent on drivers and male relatives. One woman posted on a Facebook group for the event, "It is not a revolution, it is not a plot, it is not a gathering and it is not a protest -- we are only requesting to drive our cars."

Sign this petition to call on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton - who made famous the phrase "women's rights are human rights" - to release a statement in support of the women's efforts to repeal the ban and call on King Abdullah to release activists arrested for driving and cease future arrests and harassment.

Brave Saudi activists have launched a campaign to repeal the country's driving ban and are facing arrest and harassment by government officials. We're calling on you, as a pioneer for women's rights across the world, to publicly voice your support for their efforts and call on King Abdullah to release activists arrested for defying the driving ban and cease future arrests and harassment.

Saudi Arabia is the sole nation in the world to ban women from driving and doing so leaves them vulnerable to sexual harassment from taxi drivers and dependent on their male relatives. Saudi Arabia's leaders need to hear from allies that it is no longer acceptable to curb women's freedom in this way.

Secretary Clinton, you made famous the phrase "women's rights are human rights" and you've made it your credo in all facets of your public service. Please stand once again for gender equality and publicly support Saudi women struggling for their human rights.